Developing Your Child's Love for Reading

Tamara Walker, R.N. is a married mom of two and a registered nurse who has been providing practical information and advice for raising a happy, healthy family online as "MomRN" since 2001. As a speaker, radio and television personality, expert contributor for many parenting and health websites, newspapers, and magazines, and child safety instructor, MomRN has helped and encouraged thousands of parents as they strive to do the most difficult job on the planet. Her website is http://www.MomRN.com and she hosts a weekly online radio show, Ask MomRN Show, which features expert guests, authors, and celebrities at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/flylady.

The ability to read impacts so many different areas of our lives. Our reading ability dramatically affects our ability to learn other subjects in school. So it is no wonder that developing a love for reading can make learning easier and more enjoyable. Kids who love to read generally do better academically than kids who hate reading or only read because they are required to by a teacher. So how can we, as parents, help our kids develop a love for reading?

Start Early

Even before babies are born they are already starting to learn to recognize their parents' voices. Some parents-to-be start talking and even reading to their baby before birth to start the learning process. Babies, toddlers, and preschoolers may only be able to pay attention for a few minutes at a time in the beginning and that is okay. If you can't get through a whole children's book in one sitting, do a little at a time and they will gradually begin to focus for longer periods of time and will probably want the same books read to them over and over. The more often they hear the story being read aloud, they more they are learning from it and seeing that the words on the page have meaning and it will help them start to recognize those words elsewhere.

Make Reading Fun!

Choose colorful, fun books for babies, toddlers, and preschoolers. Books that rhyme or have colorful pictures or silly characters (especially animals) are fun and you can give funny voices to the characters to really make the story entertaining. If you make it fun and enjoy reading out loud to your children, they will enjoy being read to and they will learn that books are wonderful things.

Be an Example

Kids raised by parents who love to read will usually love reading, too. Even if you don't love to read, take a little time every day to read something you are interested in, whether it is a newspaper, magazine, or book and you may start to enjoy reading plus you'll show your kids that reading is important.

Read Together Often

Young children, who are read to frequently, usually have an easier time learning how to read on their own. Having children's books available to them to look at, even if they cannot read yet, begins the process of figuring out what a book is about and how to start learning words and their meanings.

When parents read to kids, not only is the child learning, but it is a great opportunity for bonding emotionally. Some of my fondest memories of my children's younger days are the times we spent snuggled up together reading their favorite books. When they were old enough to learn to read, it was so much fun letting them read to me.

Kids who can read by themselves still benefit from having a parent or older sibling read aloud to them and with them. As my kids grew older, we would have family reading time each night where we'd choose a chapter book to read over several nights (or even weeks if it were a long novel). Each night, one of us would read aloud a chapter or more depending on how long the chapters were and how much time we had available that evening. Even when our kids were tweens and young teenagers, they enjoyed listening to one of us read out loud and taking a turn reading to us. We would also discuss each book and what we liked and didn't like about the stories and the characters.

Go to the Library

When my kids each turned five, they were able to get their very own library cards and the excitement and pride they had was thrilling! (I think they were more excited about getting their library cards than they were getting their driver's licenses as teenagers!) We also loved to attend story times at the library and local bookstores for free.

Making books an important part of your family's time together will help your child learn to love reading. Plus, you have the added bonus of having quality bonding time together that can shape your child's character and future and give you a lifetime of wonderful memories spent reading with your children. My kids are now 21 and 18 and they enjoy reading. They've even kept a few of their favorite books from childhood to share someday with their own children. What books will your kids look back upon fondly and want to share someday with their own kids? Start building a family legacy today of avid readers!

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